Pre-Departure!

My flight has been booked, passport received, and GoPro purchased! Now I just have to wait a week to use them, it’s a bit nerve racking.

I am beyond excited at this opportunity- to go to the Little Cayman Island and learn hands-on about coral reefs, the beautiful fish species, and the conservation efforts that are being made to help them! I can’t believe that in one week I will be saying goodbye to family and friends for almost 3 weeks and saying hello to a brand new world!

In marine sciences (and all other sciences for that matter), everything has a common name and a scientific name.  One easy to remember (but is dependent on where you are in the world) and one hard to remember, let alone pronounce.  But we must remember this scientific, usually Latin, name of the fish species in order to be accurate and correct.  This worries me! I am the worst at learning other languages- and I have tried multiple times! I describe myself to perfectly butcher the beautiful language.  BUT, and there is a but, I am persevering and going to eventually learn the scientific names of these species, because I know this is the field that I want to work in.  I am hoping that being surrounded by scientists, who may have (or hopefully?) struggled with this problem too, and being able to look, touch and study the species will help tremendously!

I would also describe myself as a picky eater.  Which at one point in my life, I would be shaking in my dive booties at the opportunity to try new foods.  But I have done some growing since then and am actually looking forward to trying food from a different culture.  However, I make no promises to liking the food- but at least I tried it, right? I have talked with some friends that have gone to the Cayman Islands for scuba diving and they have told (warned) me about turtle soup.  Now I am not 100% sure that this was not a complete joke to freak me out (I am hoping it is!), but in the off chance that it is true- it may be one dish I pass on trying.

Do not fear, I plan to continuously update with the new species names that I learn and the cuisine I encounter!

Until next time 🙂